The Art of Wellness: Perspectives of Two First Year Medical Students

  • Posted on: 16 February 2016
  • By: OMSA Admin
Category: 

After many years of hard work, you have finally been accepted to medical school. This is the one moment you have always waited for and cherished. During the first day of orientation week, you find yourself overcome with a mix of emotions and feel anxious to begin your medical education. Within minutes of meeting your new classmates you become overwhelmed by the extensive repertoire of medical knowledge and each of their unique accomplishments. Will I have enough insight to hold meaningful discussions with my classmates? Will I be a good physician? What aspects of medicine will I pursue? How will I ensure my professional and personal development over the next four years? 

As these questions cross your mind, you are also given the opportunity to reflect the steps you will take to maintain your wellness. Wellness, both physically and emotionally is the foundation that will drive medical students to achieve their success. 

Student wellness or physician wellness is a topic talked about repeatedly throughout students’ medical training. However, it is a concept that may appear arbitrary to some. It is important to recognize that wellness is not achieved at a single point in time, but is rather a life long process only achieved if one learns how to create it. Physician wellness is a career long journey that does not start during your first day on the job, your first day of residency or the day you get your MD degree, but rather the day you open the acceptance letter. As medical schools across Ontario and our country, it is our responsibility to take every opportunity to enhance our wellness – because the art of wellness is just as important as the art of medicine. 

Join the OMSA Wellness Committee this March for the 2016 Wellness Retreat at The Briars Spa and Resort.

Tina Felfeli, Class of 2019, University of Toronto
Jorge-Ryan Georgakopoulos, Class of 2019, Western University